Calligraphy

Calligraphy is the beautiful and artistic way of writing by hand. It turns ordinary letters into works of visual art, using tools like pens or brushes filled with ink. The word "calligraphy" comes from Ancient Greek, meaning "beautiful writing."

In places like East Asia and the Islamic world, calligraphy has been an important part of art for centuries. The way the words look can reflect the meaning behind them.

Today, people in the West use calligraphy for many special purposes, such as wedding invitations, logos, and religious art. It is also used in movies, on maps, and in many other kinds of designs. Modern calligraphy can be both practical and beautiful.

Tools

In the Western world, the main tools for calligraphy are pens and brushes. Calligraphic pens have nibs that can be flat, round, or pointed. Some styles need special pens like stub nibs. Other tools include felt-tip and ballpoint pens, but they don't create angled lines as easily.

Calligraphers also need the right ink, paper, and templates. Water-based ink works best for calligraphy. Special papers like parchment or vellum help make clean lines, and ruled paper can guide writing to keep letters straight and evenly spaced.

East Asia

Chinese calligraphy is known as shūfǎ or fǎshū ('the method or law of writing'); Japanese calligraphy is called shodō ('the way or principle of writing'); and Korean calligraphy is referred to as seoye ('the art of writing'). Calligraphy in East Asia is still an important part of traditional culture today.

In ancient China, the oldest known Chinese characters were carved on animal bones. Over time, different styles of writing developed. The traditional regular script is still used today. Writing Chinese characters needs special tools: ink brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. How a calligrapher uses these tools changes the look of the characters, making different thicknesses and styles. Calligraphy has also influenced other art forms, such as ink painting, across East Asia.

Southeast Asia

Philippines

The Philippines has many old scripts called Suyat scripts. Before the Spanish came in the 16th century, different groups used these scripts. By the end of Spanish rule, only four suyat scripts were still used every day: Hanunó'o, Buhid, Tagbanwa script, and Palaw'an. These four were named by UNESCO in 1999.

Many artists have helped bring back old suyat scripts that disappeared after the Spanish brought the Latin alphabet. These include the Kulitan script, Baybayin script, and others. Today, people in the Philippines also use Western and Arabic letters in calligraphy, but these are not suyat scripts.

Vietnam

Main article: Vietnamese calligraphy

Vietnamese calligraphy is called thư pháp. It is based on old Vietnamese writing called Chữ Nôm and Chữ Hán, which came from Chinese influence. These traditions still continue today, even though most Vietnamese now use the Latin alphabet.

South Asia

Main article: Indian calligraphy

Indian calligraphy is used to keep important religious texts. Buddhist monks were good at calligraphy and helped copy sacred books. Jaina traders made lovely books with pictures of Jaina saints. They used things like palm leaves and birch to make these books.

In Nepal, a special way of writing called Ranjana is used for sacred Buddhist texts like “Om mani padme hum.” This way of writing and its changes are also used in Tibet, Bhutan, Leh, Mongolia, and parts of Japan and Korea. In India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, a style called Nastaliq was liked a lot, especially when the Mughal rulers were in charge.

Africa

Egypt

Egyptian hieroglyphs were the official writing system of Ancient Egypt. These hieroglyphs used symbols for whole words, syllables, and single letters. There were about 1,000 different characters.

Ethiopia

Ethiopian calligraphy began with the Ge'ez script. It replaced Epigraphic South Arabian writing in the Kingdom of Aksum. This script was made for Ethiopian Semitic languages and is called Fidäl, meaning 'script' or 'alphabet'. It is still used today in languages like Amharic and Tigrinya. The Ge'ez script reads from left to right and has been adapted for other Semitic languages, mainly Amharic in Ethiopia and Tigrinya in Eritrea.

Americas

Maya

The Maya people used special symbols called Maya glyphs for their writing. Today, you can see Maya calligraphy on seals and big stone monuments in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Some places in Mexico, like Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo, write in Maya languages using common Latin letters. A few businesses and groups use Maya glyphs as symbols to show their identity.

Many old places in Mexico, such as Chichen Itza, Labna, Uxmal, Edzna, and Calakmul, have these glyphs carved into their buildings. Large stone monuments called stele help us learn about ancient Maya writing.

Europe

Main article: Western calligraphy

Calligraphy in Europe often uses the Latin script in Western Europe and Greek, Armenian, Georgian, or Cyrillic scripts in Eastern Europe. In ancient Rome, the Latin alphabet appeared around 600 BCE and developed into many styles. Monasteries helped keep these traditions alive during the early Middle Ages.

Churches copied important books like the Bible, creating beautiful styles such as uncial and half-uncial. The 7th to 9th centuries saw the making of special books like the Lindisfarne Gospels. Charlemagne helped create the Carolingian minuscule, which influenced modern letters. By the 11th century, blackletter script became popular until Johannes Gutenberg used it for the first printing press in 1454. Later styles like humanist minuscule and Roundhand spread across Europe.

Islamic world

Main article: Islamic calligraphy

See also: Arabic calligraphy

Islamic calligraphy grew together with Islam and the Arabic language. Though sometimes called "Arabic calligraphy," the term "Islamic calligraphy" is better because it includes all calligraphy made by Muslim artists from different cultures, such as Persian or Ottoman styles, from Al-Andalus in medieval Spain to China.

This type of calligraphy is often seen in beautiful designs on walls and ceilings of mosques, in books, and on many objects. Today, artists in the Islamic world use these old styles to make new designs, like for corporate logos. For Muslims, calligraphy is more than just writing—it is a way to show the beauty of the spiritual world. The Qur'an has helped shape the Arabic language and, therefore, calligraphy.

During the Ottoman civilization, calligraphy became very important, with Istanbul showing many examples in mosques, fountains, schools, and homes.

Samples of Islamic calligraphy include the phrase Bismillah from the 18th century and a bowl with Kufic Calligraphy from 10th-century Persia.

!Sample showing Nastaliq proportional rules (Persian and Urdu languages)

This sample shows Nastaliq rules for letter shapes and how letters fit together in Persian and Urdu languages. The Nasta'liq style is very popular in modern Persian calligraphy and is also widely used in India and Pakistan for Urdu. It has careful rules for how each letter looks and how letters are joined together in a piece of calligraphy.

Modern calligraphy

After printing became popular in the 15th century, beautifully decorated books became less common, but calligraphy did not disappear. By the late 19th century, calligraphy started to become popular again thanks to artists like William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.

Edward Johnston is known as the father of modern calligraphy. He studied old books and began teaching calligraphy in London in 1899. His work inspired many people and even helped create a new font still used today on the London Underground. Calligraphy kept growing in popularity through the 20th century, influencing modern computer fonts used in programs like Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign.